Concerns about traffic and density in the Green Valley subdivision were front and centre during the committee-of-the-whole portion of the Bradford West Gwillimbury council meeting Tuesday night.
Councillors were discussing the requested Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments, as well as the draft plan of subdivision for the Simcoe Gardens development at 563 Simcoe Rd. and 2575 Line 6.
A total of 75 dwelling units are planned for the development by Pantheon, including 71 townhouses, being built on 62 per cent of the 6.17 acres being rezoned.
That’s too many people on too small of a parcel on a road that is already congested, argued Coun. Peter Ferragine.
“We’re constantly receiving phone calls from people in this area because of that dramatic increase of people in this area,” he said. “We’re getting a lot more density on this side of town… we’ve already been dealing with a big influx where we don’t have the infrastructure in place.”
Construction was only just completed on Simcoe Road between Line 6 and Canal Road a few years ago, but unlike the reconstruction of the road from Line 6 to Luxury Avenue in 2005, the road wasn’t widened from two lanes to four. With the ongoing east side development on Simcoe, and the proposed development at the corner of Line 6, traffic is bound to get worse, Ferragine suggested.
While he can likely attest to the traffic woes from what he witnesses while at the greenhouse business his family owns across the street from the proposed development, he also understands the problems with congestion as a parent whose children attend school in the area. That’s only going to get worse, he said, when the new elementary school on the west side of the road is complete.
“On a daily basis – or almost a daily basis – we continually get text messages to say, ‘respect the people on the road,’ ‘don’t turn around on Simcoe Road.,’ ‘don’t block neigbhours’ driveways,’ and this is with a much smaller school,” Ferragine said.
“I feel that this plan is very aggressive, and I feel like the developer should be taking a look at what is within their zoning and their bylaws to create a more suitable housing unit for this area,” he added.
The town’s Official Plan does not allow for a medium-density residential development to exceed 40 units per developable hectare. The development, as proposed, would house 45.6 dwelling units per net hectare, adding approximately 210 new residents to the town.
Ferragine found support in the form of Coun. Peter Dykie.
“I have great problems with the density of this,” he said. “I look at this corner… I don’t think that corner is designed for that amount of traffic.”
The statutory public meeting on the development took place in September 2019, with no comments coming in from the public at that time. Following the meeting, written concerns were brought forward regarding the possibility of private garbage removal on site. That has since been made moot by the promise of county waste removal services being used.
While Ferragine and Dykie had reservations, their colleagues were ready to see the project move forward.
“Everybody is going to sit there and argue about higher densities, but that’s what we approved,” said Coun. Mark Contois. “That’s how we’re going to get our numbers without urban sprawl. So, you have to have higher densities and this is what it looks like.”
Contois, unlike Ferragine and Dykie, is confident the area roads can handle the extra traffic, and the development as a whole seemed “quite well done” for the space proposed.
Not only that, but it is also similar to a recently completed development across the street.
“It’s another nice in-fill development,” said Coun. Jonathan Scott. “I think, in this particular case, they have a really perfect example across the street and what a great job that Cachet did… It’s a tough act to follow and I hope they will follow it well.”
Committee recommended approving the application with Dykie and Ferragine in opposition.
